


The Letters

by Ilu_Icey



Category: Puyo Puyo (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I'm not a native english speaker, Letters, My First Fanfic, They/Them Ecolo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:27:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29409060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilu_Icey/pseuds/Ilu_Icey
Summary: Ringo is trying to write a letter to someone she cannot reach. Ecolo wants to make her proud.
Relationships: Ecolo/Ringo Ando (one-sided), Ringo Ando & Tee
Kudos: 13





	The Letters

**Author's Note:**

> So, here we go, my first fanfic here!  
> As the tags may suggest, I'm not a native English speaker (nor am I that fluent in English), so please bear with me when it comes to mistakes or stuff like that.
> 
> In any case, let the show begin!

_*Sigh*_ “Why am I even bothering with this? It’s not like he could actually _receive_ it or anything!”

Ringo was sitting on her desk, her apple on a side of the table and a piece of paper before her. But what’s important here was what she was doing with said sheet of paper.

She was trying to write a letter to a so close yet so very far away friend of hers. They may have only met twice now (and forgot about how the other looked like between those two times), but she grew attached to the boy and wanted to talk to him again. 

The problem ? He lives in another dimension, one that cannot be accessed as easily as Primp can. And by that, I mean that all of Ringo’s attempts to reach that dimension ended up in failure. And she made a lot and another lot of attempts.

So she decided to write a letter to him. Despite having no hope that he would read it. Just to get that feeling that he was there, despite the impossibility of that fact.

She even doodled four squares representing a familiar shape associated with him in a corner of that sheet (alongside an apple), that’s saying how much she misses him.

The problem being that, well, once the initial thought of writing to him (and the glee associated with it) has passed, she is starting to lose her motivation to continue with writing said letter. She still decided to push through, for the sake of not abandoning like that.

_(If only that wouldn’t be in vain)_ , she thought as she put the final touches to the letter.

 _(If only there was a way he could actually receive it)_ , she thought as she folded the paper and put it into an envelope.

 _(If only…)_ , she thought as she left the envelope on the table before going to bed.

If only she had looked around while struggling with that letter, she would have noticed the very close yet very alien figure in her room watching over her.

Ecolo didn’t really have the young boy’s best interests at heart. If anything, they would have preferred if Ringo and him didn’t meet. But they know that life has a tendency to throw whatever it can as obstacles on one’s path, and that you have to live with it.

This is especially true when you spend the time wandering between dimensions, with nobody to talk to, nobody who remembers you, nobody to consider a friend.

Except Ringo. She was the first one who actually remembered them. She was the first one who considered them a friend. She was the closest person Ecolo ever had in their long and forlorn life, so it was obvious why they wanted to keep her around, no matter what. They wanted to make sure she always remembered.

How does this ties with our story, you may ask? Well, as much as the receiving end of the letter was not someone Ecolo appreciated, they would do anything for the sending end of it. That and they had the ability required to make her wish come true.

So, in their biggest “screw it, I’ll do it” moment in a while, Ecolo took the letter and disappeared into another world.

Ringo was asleep when Ecolo took the letter. She didn’t know about what the Wanderer of Worlds had in stock for her.

“*Ahem* Captain’s report. This is Captain Tee of the SS Tetra. I am broadcasting this signal via Communications Officer O.”

While anyone on the aforementioned SS Tetra pretty much figured out what would be the next three lines of that report, Tee took it upon himself to make sure to send one at fixed times. 

As boring as it sounds, it was one of the few things that kept him sane as he had to deal with the shenanigans on board. And with two experts on that domain plus a pretty acidic first mate, there were a lot of shenanigans on board. At least, he reassured himself by remembering that his sanity wasn’t the only thing he kept via those reports.

In any case, today would be a special day. Because the crew members wouldn’t expect what the third line actually was this time.

“The Constellation Zone appears quiet. No ripples in spacetime detected. However, I suspect the presence of an intruder inside the ship. Further investigation is needed on the matter. End of report”

“Wow, that doesn’t sound very nice, does it?”

Tee pulled out the two signature elements that he hadn’t pulled yet, namely, his chakram and his poker face, as he faced the dimensional traveler that materialized in front of him.

“What are you doing here?” He asked to said dimensional traveler.

“Well," said dimensional traveler answered, "I was debating to myself whether or not I should actually make sure certain written words should reach where their writer wanted them to reach. And I’m inching towards ‘not’, right now.”

“Riiiight. So you mean to say you decided to go here with something from another world with the intent of giving it to someone here, but you’re having second thoughts.”

“Exactly~! I mean, why would I give something to someone who’s being rude right now?”

“So that means I’m supposedly at the receiving end of it, as Ess would have already yelled otherwise.”

“Anything else, wise guy?”

“Putting the context clues in order… It’s from Ringo, is it not?”

If it was physically possible for Ecolo to become paler, they would have been as white as a sheet. That’s when the Tetra Captain decided to put his chakram away, as the Wanderer of Worlds was actually trying to figure out how the person in front of them remembered about _her_.

And after one minute of silence, they decided to voice that question out loud.

“Well," he answered truthfully, "I’m not entirely sure myself. For _her_ , I mean.”

“Ah.” was all that the spacetime traveler could say to that.

Another minute of silence, still uninterrupted by any other member of the Tetra Crew suddenly bursting into the cockpit, for some reason. This time, it was the young boy who broke the silence.

“Say… If I can find a good reason for you to give me what you intended to deliver here, may I get it?”

“Well… That’s _if_ you can find a good reason. And let’s just say that we may have different views on what that could be~.”

“Hmm… Would the prospect of seeing her react to an answer to it be enough of a reason?”

“How is that a good reason?”

“Well… You’ll get to _see_ something that I can only _imagine_.”

As Ecolo pondered about the implications of that last sentence, they decided to launch the letter straight into the intended target to it. Which prompted a very startled Tee to catch it, shock visible on his face as said letter was now in his right hand and in front of his face.

“Okay, you can have it. I’m just gonna take a stroll around here before leaving, should only take three hours~!”

Ecolo didn’t even let the captain complain about anything related to that sentence before leaving, leading to the latter releasing a very long and annoyed sigh.

Then he focused on the letter he was holding. A slight red tint to it and no names written on the envelope. He decided to relax, take a seat on a corner of the room before unfolding it.

The shock returned, but for different reasons. He couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe that he guessed right. He couldn’t believe that _she_ wrote a letter to _him_.

“Pipi pi? Pi pipipi?”

Oh, right, he was making a report before Ecolo showed up, which meant O was still here. The reason why the yellow fluffy ball didn’t react up to that point was something the young boy would ask for later, but for now, he was glad that his companion was still around.

“I’m alright, O, just a little overwhelmed by the events. I mean, to get a letter that _she_ wrote… It’s not something that I would have imagined.”

“Pipi? Pipi pi pipi pi!” 

“Yeah, we should.”

O landed safely on Tee’s head as the latter decided to finally sit back and read the letter he was holding.

_“Dear Tee,_

_OMIGOSH, how do I start with this? I have no idea how I’ve decided to write this, and yet, I’m in front of my desk, working on it!_

_Anyways, how is it going up there? Down here, it’s still the usual. Maguro and Ris are still the best friends I could hope to keep around, Arle and Amitie are still a pleasure to talk to, and Ecolo is still Ecolo._

_While I’ll admit, I miss you. You were the no-nonsense guy in my nonsensical life. You were the guy that, despite being the captain of a starship, seemed to be like the side character that nobody would notice before the plot asked for it. No offense._

_And honestly? That was probably the best thing that happened to me since Ecolo decided to mess with me the first time I’ve met them, a long time ago. Crazy when you put into context that how_ we _met was probably the craziest thing that ever happened to me, and yet you’re the least crazy guy I’ve ever met._

_In any case, hope you’re still doing okay despite everything. And seriously, don’t ever think I’ll be able to forget about you. Hell, I remember about Ecolo, for goodness’ sake! If I can remember a weird, silly dimension hopper like them, I’ll definitely never forget about you. Especially since we met twice now._

_Well, it’s starting to get close to late o’clock and that’s the fourth time I’m trying to write about this, so I guess I should end it here, huh? It’s not like you could receive it or anything._

_Anyways, if you do, you better not have forgotten, or else I’ll find a way to reach you and knock some sense into you. And I’m only at my forty-eighth attempt to do so._

_But, otherwise, I hope to see you again someday. May you align what you get as efficiently as you can, and know that I’m still thinking about you._

_Yours truly._

_Ando Ringo”_

Tee couldn’t believe it. And yet, he was holding on to the proof that it happened. He was staring at the letter in total stunlock, trying to make sense out of what was going on.

“Pi? Pi pipipi?”

O’s voice achieved to bring the stunned captain back into reality.

“Y-yeah, I’m alright, O. Don’t worry about that.”

The cloudy, sunshiny creature hovered before standing next to its partner, attempting to pull a cat’s hug-like maneuver on his right arm, which didn’t miss to make Tee giggle.

“Oh, c’mon O, I’m alright, I swear…”

They still stayed like that for two minutes before the captain suddenly stood up, a determined look on his face.

“O, I’m going to my room to do an important task. Could you make sure our temporary guest hasn’t made a mess out of the starship while I’m gone?”

“Pipi pi, pippi~!”

And so the two went in different directions. Tee went to search for a sheet of paper and a pen, while O reached for the first mate as a start for its mission.

Exactly two hours later, the captain came out of his room, a pale lavender envelope in his hand. To immediately come face to face with a definitely not happy girl with curly green hair.

“So, what were you doing, Mr. Boring?”

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the first mate of the SS Tetra, Ess.

“Nothing that is related to you, I can assure you.” He answered as calmly as he could.

“Seriously, Tee, the toilets are at the other side of the ship, so that’s definitely not that task you were doing.”

“I have other tasks I need to take care of, remember? Anyways, have you seen a cloudy figure somewhere on the ship? I need to give them something before they decide to leave.”

“As a matter of fact, I have. THAT’S the reason I was searching for you, actually.”

“Ah. What’s the matter, Ess?”

“Basically? If you thought the twins were annoying, then you haven’t known that guy. Seriously, what’s the deal with owing them something? T’s not like we’ve met that nebulous creature before or whatever, have we now?”

 _(Let’s not go down_ that _well, shall we?)_ was all the captain could think about upon hearing that answer. So he had to find a way to change the subject.

“Aaanyways, why haven’t you yelled while trouble was unfolding? Don’t pull out the excuse of ‘You wouldn’t have heard’, we proved six times now that you’re able to yell loud enough for me to hear no matter where we are on the ship.”

“Well," she answered as she looked away from Tee, "I wanted to see if I could take care of that one on my own. I mean, as much as that’s the scenario I _don’t ever_ want to see in my life, I have to prepare myself for the day you’ll have to leave, even if temporarily.”

 _(Ess…)_ “I… see." He looked at her with an apologectic look in his eyes, before returning to his usual barely emotional one. "In any case, where is the nebulous creature? I have a hunch they’ll leave very soon.”

“Fine." She huffed. "Just… don’t repeat to anyone what I just said to you, okay?”

“Don’t worry about it, Ess. Your secret is safe with me.”

So, it was time for the captain and first mate to enter the main room of the Tetra… And honestly? Tee was slightly relieved to see that it wasn’t as chaotic as he thought it would be.

But enough beating around the bush, it was time to make sure the letter would be delivered where it should be.

“Ecolo?” He asked, searching for the spacetime traveler.

“How do you know their name?” Ess demanded in a hushed tone.

“Permission to not answer that one?” He answered in the same tone she asked him.

“Yeeesss~?” The Wanderer of Worlds answered to the initial question looking way too eager about it, as they showed up in front of our now annoyed duo.

“There it is.” Tee point blankly said, showing the lavender folded paper he was holding.

“Wait, you mean to say you actually did it? You actually wrote a love letter response~?” At this point, Ecolo was giggling to themselves about that fact, as Tee’s face became one shade redder with embarrassment.

“Wait, you did WHAT?!” And that was Ess’ reaction to the scene that was unfolding in front of her.

Tee took one deep breath, before carefully choosing his words for his answer.

“Well, I merely received a letter and I merely wrote an answer to it. Anything you want to add?”

“Geez, you didn’t have to be such a killjoy…” Ecolo reacted to the captain’s response.

“I know, right? Tee is the killjoy master, I swear.” And Ess was siding with them on that one.

“In any case… I’m not going to get offended by the side Ess took, but I’m definitely going to be by you if you decide to leave without at least delivering the answer, Ecolo.”

“*Sigh* Fine, fine. I mean, at least I get to see the look on _her_ face and you don’t!” The spacetime traveler taunted as he took the letter from an annoyed Tetra captain, in front of a very confused Tetra first mate, before leaving the scene.

Thirty seconds then passed, before Ess decided to address the now out elephant in the room :

“What was that guy talking about, Tee? Who’s that ‘her’ and what does she have to do with any of this?”

“‘It’s a long story, Ess’... would be an understatement” was all she got as an answer from the captain.

Ecolo knew about it. They knew that they got a gift that Ringo would remember for a long time.

She couldn’t believe it. And yet, here it was, on her desk. A different letter than the one she painfully wrote the day before. It had a slight purple hue to it, was perfectly folded into a nice rectangle, and had her name written in a small but neat handwriting.

After pinching herself for the third time to make sure she wasn’t dreaming for the third time, she decided to take the letter and sit down on her bed. As she unfolded the letter, she got to read its contents:

_“Dear Ringo,_

_So, how long has it been since last time? Don’t answer, I don’t think I would be able to hear it._

_Anyways, things have mostly stayed the same up here. Ess is still Ess, the twins are still the twins, Ai is still Ai and O is still O. They may have changed a little since_ the incident _(took three days for Ess to insult me again), but otherwise, it’s the same chaos I have to create order out of inside. Fortunately, the outside is still as mostly peaceful as ever._

_Trust me, I didn’t expect to receive your letter, as much as I don’t expect you to receive that one. Not that I don’t care about you (I wouldn’t be writing this letter otherwise), but the carrier seems to be on the… unreliable side of things, if you get my angle._

_In any case, if you do, know that I haven’t forgotten. It still sounds so strange to believe that I am writing to a friend from another dimension (if Jay, Elle or Ess learned about it…), but here I am. In a way, that will be the closest we’ll be able to be to each other for a long time, as neither of us can travel between dimensions._

_There is so much I want to tell, but so little time before you-know-who decides to leave the ship without bringing this, so I must keep it short. I don’t exactly want to bother Ex with that either, after all._

_Anyways, may you get the right pieces at the right time to stack your way up to victory, and know that I’m still thinking of you despite the distance._

_End of report._

_Tee”_

That, neatly written (if not on the smaller side of things) on the letter she was holding. There was even a small T tetrimino and a star next to the signature end quote of it, pretty much confirming _who_ wrote the letter.

Not like Ecolo could write that small anyways.

Ringo was still shaking as she held the letter close to her heart, eyes closed, tears rolling on her cheeks and a dopey smile on her face. It took her two minutes before recomposing herself, finding out how to react.

As much as mere words couldn’t express her gratitude to whoever allowed all of this to happen, she finally achieved to keep it simple, by saying seven words out loud in her room :

“Thank you, Tee… And… Thank you, Ecolo.”

**Author's Note:**

> After seeing that Ringo did want to send chocolate for Ecolo for Valentine's Day, I wondered whether or not Ringo would trust them to give something to Tee and if they would hold on to it. And that's how the idea for that one fic started.
> 
> Small fun fact : my own father's handwriting was the inspiration for what Tee's would look like.


End file.
